During its second weekend in release, the film of "The Producers" — the new movie musical with Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane that is based on the Tony-winning stage version — brought in $1,614,000 at the box office.

From Left: Roger Bart and Gary Beach in "The Producers".
Photo by Andrew Schwartz

The Dec. 23-25 take was over a 900 percent increase from the film's first weekend in limited release. During its initial weekend, the motion picture brought in $156,000, playing on just six screens.

The increase, however, was not enough to propel the movie into the top ten highest grossing film of the weekend. Those in that group include "King Kong," "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," "Fun with Dick and Jane," "Cheaper by the Dozen 2," "Memoirs of a Geisha," "The Family Stone," "The Ringer," "Munich," "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" and "Rumor Has It."

"The Producers," directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman, opened in 1,200 movie theatres across the country on Christmas Day, Dec. 25. The Brooksfilms production — released by Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures and produced by Mel Brooks and Jonathan Sanger — will expand further on Friday, Jan. 13, 2006.

The original 1968 "The Producers" film about a conniving producer starred Zero Mostel as producer Bialystock and Gene Wilder as Bloom. Others in the cast included Kenneth Mars as Franz Liebkind, Renée Taylor as Eva Braun, Christopher Hewett as Roger De Bris, Lee Meredith as Ulla and Andréas Voutsinas as Carmen Giya. Mel Brooks won an Academy Award for Best Screenplay for "The Producers," and Gene Wilder was nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The Producers, winner of 12 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, continues to play at Broadway's St. James Theatre.